The Inside Out Youth Worker

about IOYW

what is the inside out youth worker website all about?

Great question! Perhaps a message from Rick Lawrence, the executive director of GROUP Magazine, will give you a picture of the heart of IOYW and how we seek to serve…

(NOTE: After reading the message from Rick Lawrence, be sure to click the links at the bottom of the page for more specific information about IOYW)

Not long ago I was meeting with some of my GROUP Magazine team members to discuss youth ministry strategy—we were fishing around for common threads in each other’s own stories of transformation. I asked my teammates to talk about the spots along their life’s timeline when real transformation happened.

One said his life changed when he spent a day in a canoe with his church’s worship pastor, fishing on a mountain lake. I asked him to focus on what was actually transformational about that day. He thought for a minute, and then said it must have been the slow, unhurried pace of the day. I responded, “You could have had a slow, unhurried day with almost anyone—was it the slowness of the day or the person sitting across from you in the canoe?

“Well, it was that worship pastor, of course,” he said.

“What was it about him that set the stage for transformation in your life?”

There was an uncomfortable silence while he searched for the intangible “right answer.” Finally, a little bewildered, he said, “I guess I don’t know.”

I think most of our transformational moments happen in the context of relationships with people who can “bring the wood”—I mean people who’ve been transformed by Jesus and are therefore like Jesus. It’s their Christlikeness—Jesus Christ living unfettered through them—that surprises us, challenges us, and opens us to healing.

But, like my teammate, it’s hard to put our finger on exactly why some people move through life leaving a wake of transformation behind them while others don’t.

And that brings us to The Inside Out Youth Worker. When I became editor of GROUP Magazine 20 years ago, there were far fewer youth ministry resources available, and even fewer good youth ministry resources. Now we’re glutted by hundreds of books, CD-ROMs, DVDs, and online resources—most of them really great. We’ve become quite skilled at our “tips and techniques” in youth ministry. But somewhere along the line, we’ve forgotten that real impact flows through a transformed life. And that’s exactly what Kent Julian and his team are going after with The Inside Out Youth Worker book, website, and training experiences.

St. Francis of Assisi famously said: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy.”

What does it mean to be made into an “instrument” God can use to transform lives? How do we “sow” the fruits of the Spirit? Well, the Inside Out Youth Worker team wants to help you walk down that road. It’s an unusual process for youth workers because it dives into the intangibles that deeply impact others and makes them tangible, and it’s a process to be savored, not skimmed.

So invite Kent and his team to sit down with you via The Inside Out Youth Worker website, training experiences, and resources. What’s more, invite Jesus to join the process. I think you’ll come away from your experience transformed!

Rick Lawrence
Executive Editor
GROUP Magazine